“Yes,” she pants, and I roll her over onto her back. I slip down her body, gently dropping kisses against her skin. I remove my fingers and tug her panties down her legs, tossing them over my shoulder once I’ve cleared her feet. I drop down and bring my lips to her inner thighs, and I can feel her legs start to shake as I move closer to her center. When I reach the apex of her thighs, I run the top of my nose up her slit, following it with my tongue. I swirl my tongue around her clit before sucking it between my lips. “Derek!” She gasps my name as I slide two fingers back inside.
“Yes, baby,” I say against her pussy. “Come for me.”
I flick her clit with my tongue as my fingers work her from the inside. I feel her start to flutter around my fingers, so I curl them just slightly, hitting her g-spot, and suck hard on her clit. Her body goes rigid as she screams my name again. When she starts to go languid, I release her clit and slow my fingers, eventually pulling them from her sated body.
I kiss her hip bone, then along her bump, as I push her sleep tank up with my nose until I reach her luscious breasts. I know they’re tender, as she’s complained about it a few times the last couple of weeks, so I’m gentle when I lap at her nipples. I let her tank fall back down as I bring my body up, resting back against my pillow while she remains sated next to me. It takes her a few minutes to open her eyes and look over at me.
“Ready to marry me today?” I ask.
“After that, hell yes,” she says, a hint of amusement lacing her voice.
“Admit it. You’re only marrying me for my orgasm abilities,” I tease.
“You are an expert in that department,” she says, stroking my ego just a bit.
“Tell me something I don’t already know.”
“Don’t get cocky now,” she chides.
“I’ll show you cocky,” I tell her as I grab her hand and wrap it around my hard shaft.
“I’m sure you will, but hold that thought. This baby is already pressing on my bladder.” She rolls out of bed and heads for the bathroom, returning only a few minutes later. She stops at the edge of the bed and pulls her sleep tank off, then slides in beside me, naked.
“Lay on your side,” I tell her, then align my body with hers. I slip her top leg over mine and rub my cock along her entrance. “I can’t wait to make you mine again today.” I slip inside her, making slow, calculated thrusts. I’m in no rush. I’ve got all morning to make love to her. To make this moment and morning last.
“Derek.” She moans my name. “I need more.”
I slip my hand around and find her clit. It’s swollen and sensitive.
“That’s it, baby,” I whisper into her ear. “Find your release. Come all over my cock. Make me come. Take what you need from me.”
I grunt as I continue my steady, yet slow, thrusts. Most times, it feels like it’s all about the speed and quick release, but there’s something so sensual about this slowness, and the intimacy it brings to slowly build each other up until we find our mutual release.
“I’m close,” I warn her. “Are you?”
Her only response is a nod of her head as she moans. Her finger joins mine as she shows me exactly how she needs to be touched. I feel the tingle travel down my spine and settle in my balls before I fall over the edge.
“Fuck, Jillian,” I grunt as I empty into her. I thrust one last time, feeling as her body does the same and comes with me. We both still, and I hold her while we both bask in the endorphins flowing through our bodies in this moment.
“That was…” she starts to say, then trails off.
“Perfect,” I answer for her.
“Yeah, we’ll go with perfect,” she agrees as I slip out of her and grab a washcloth I’d stashed on the nightstand to help clean up.
“What time do we need to leave for our appointment at the courthouse?” I ask a few minutes later. She’s resting with her head on my chest while we savor the feelings from our love making.
“Around eleven. Our appointment is at noon, but we need to check in by eleven forty-five.”
“Sounds good. And Riley is coming over to be with the girls?”
“Yes, she was going to be here by ten, if not earlier.”
“Okay. I guess that means that I need to get up and get showered,” I say, tapping her hip where my hand rests.
“If you must,” she replies, attempting to burrow in closer to me.
“We must. That, and the girls are going to be up soon, if they aren’t already. Someone’s got to make them some breakfast.”
“And that someone is going to be you?”
“Of course. You relax while I shower, then the bathroom is all yours to get ready for today. I’ll take care of the girls,” I assure her. I drop one last kiss to her forehead, then slip out of bed and head for the shower.
I stand inside a courtroom, not much different than the one I sat in a few months ago. The feeling I had that day of complete dread is thankfully so very different than the hope and love I feel today. Jillian stands at my side, our fingers laced together as we wait to be called up by the judge.
“You ready?” I whisper so only Jillian can hear me. There are a few other couples all waiting for their names to be called.
“Yes, you?” She looks up at me with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
“Absolutely,” I assure her. “Nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“Smyth,” someone calls out and we turn and head for the front.
“That’s us,” I tell the man when we reach him.
“Right this way.” He gestures and we follow him into another room.
“Good afternoon.” We’re greeted by the judge, who proceeds to tell us how everything will go today. Neither one of us wanted the fanfare of a traditional wedding. We’ve already done one of those and didn’t need to go through all of that again just to reverse our divorce from a few months ago.
Thirty minutes later, we walk out of the courthouse, hand in hand, with a piece of paper that legally binds us back together as husband and wife.
“Where to now, wife?” I ask Jillian as I sweep her into my arms and bring my lips to hers.
“Home, husband.” She giggles as my lips move to her neck, my facial hair tickling her skin.
We head home and are surprised to find both sets of our parents there with the girls and Riley.
“Mom, Dad!” Jillian exclaims as she hugs both of her parents. “What are you doing here?”
“We couldn’t miss your special day!” her mom says, wiping at a tear sliding down her cheek.
“You didn’t have to come all the way here just for today.”
“I know we didn’t, but we thought that it would be nice to see everyone, plus, Dad wanted to be here for opening day.”
“It’s so good to see you,” Jillian concedes, pulling her mom into another hug.
Our afternoon is filled with our families surrounding us and celebrating the fact that we found our way back to one another. I may have struck out once with the love of my life, but thankfully, I fought my way back and threw one last perfect pitch to win her back. That’s not something I’ll ever take for granted.
I step into the locker room two days later, feeling like my best season is on the horizon. My entire family is in the stands today to watch as we start the season off on our field.
“You feeling good?” JJ asks me as I tie my cleats.
“Better than ever. You ready?” I reply as I toss a ball at him.
“I was born ready, fucker.” He tosses the ball back at me as we make our way out of the locker room and into the dugout. As we hit the field, I look up and make eye contact with Jillian. I kiss my fingertips and raise them up in her direction, and she does the same. We started this tradition way back in my college days. JJ and I begin our routine as we both get ready for the opening pitch. With it being opening day, we have all the pomp and circumstance to go along with that, since our game is being nationally televised.
By the time I finally take the mound, my
mind is calm, my arm is warmed up, and I’m ready to start this season off with a win.
I strike out the first two batters with my first six pitches. That doesn’t happen very often; someone usually hits a foul ball, but not tonight. Tonight, I’m damn well almost perfect with my pitches, but I don’t read too much into it, as I don’t want to throw off my focus. I just feel the ball, read the batters, and throw the balls JJ signals me to throw. By the eighth inning, I start to think about the possibility of throwing a perfect game. I can’t think too much about it because that’s the fastest way to jinx myself right out of the milestone.
“You fucking did it!” JJ yells as he jumps on me seconds after the umpire calls the batter out at home plate. I threw a perfect game. A feat only a handful of professional pitchers has ever done, and now my name will be added to that list. I hit the ground as the rest of my teammates pile onto the two of us.
“This calls for a celebration!” Matt O’Riley calls out as we head for the dugout.
I stop before walking down the stairs, and look up into the stands. Much like I do before the game starts, I seek out Jillian. She’s standing, Penelope in her arms. I kiss my fingertips and hold them up in her direction. She wipes at her cheek before she repeats the motion. All I want to do in this moment is run up into the stands, pull her into my arms, and kiss the hell out of her. My teammate might have been on to something in his comment about celebrating, but the only person I want to celebrate tonight’s victory with is the woman standing in the stands. The only one I care has my name and number on her back. She’s the only one I’ll be celebrating with tonight.
“Sorry, boys,” I call out as I enter the locker room to cheers and congratulations. “I’ll be celebrating at home tonight.”
“Come on, man! Just one beer,” JJ yells out from across the room.
“Maybe another night,” I tell him as I strip off my jersey and toss it into the dirty hamper in the center of the room.
“Pussy whipped,” he calls out. I can hear the humor filling his voice and know he’s just giving me shit.
“Proud of it,” I reply to the howls of our teammates.
It takes me over an hour to get through my shower and then the post-game interviews. All the media wanted to talk to me tonight after the performance I put on. By the time our PR people end the conference, I’m more than ready to get home to Jillian and the girls.
“Hi,” Jillian greets me moments after I walk through the door. She’s scrubbed her face of all makeup she had on today, changed into sweats and a faded Lightning t-shirt with my name on the back, and she couldn’t look more beautiful.
“Hi, yourself.” I pull her into my arms, nuzzling my nose into her neck. “Girls already in bed?” I ask, knowing they are for how quiet the house is and how late it is.
“Mhmmm.” She hums as my lips coast along her jawline. “You were amazing out there tonight.”
“I know,” I murmur against her skin. “JJ was pissed I wouldn’t go out with him, told him I had more important places to be.”
“Is that so?” she asks, pulling back slightly so she can look up at me.
“Nowhere else I’d rather be, and no one I’d rather celebrate with tonight.”
She nibbles on her bottom lip. “I’ve got a few ideas on how we can celebrate.”
“Is that so?” I ask, hoisting her up onto the counter we’ve slowly walked to. I step between her legs as she wraps them around my torso, then bring my lips to meet hers, nipping at them. I could drink her in for hours if given the opportunity.
I sink my hands into her hair and angle her just so, then lower my lips back to hers as I take control of the kiss. I push my tongue past the seam of her lips and make love to her mouth, mimicking the way I’m going to make love to her once we finally get to our bed.
I pull away minutes—hell, it could be hours—later, as I’ve lost all semblance of time, and rest my forehead against hers. “Can you believe it, babe? A perfect fucking game!” I state, still in shock that it happened to me. That it’s really my life.
“I can. It was amazing to watch. I’m so glad that everyone was there to see it happen in person.”
“That was pretty special,” I agree.
My cell starts buzzing in my pocket just then. I ignore it, but it starts buzzing again a few seconds later, as if whoever is calling me got my voicemail and called right back. I pull it from my pocket and see JJ calling. I decline his call, sending him to voicemail again, but he calls for a third time.
“Just answer it,” Jillian says.
“This better be important,” I bark into the phone.
“It’s an emergency, dude. I don’t know what the fuck to do,” he rambles, so much I can hardly understand him.
“Slow down, what’s going on?” All I can hear in the background is what sounds like a baby screaming. “Where are you?” I ask on second thought, putting the phone on speaker.
“Fuck, man. I’m freaking out. A chick I hooked up with last year just showed up on my doorstep with a baby in hand and said I was her dad. Said she couldn’t raise the baby and left. What the hell am I going to do? I know jack shit about babies, and how do I even know if she’s telling the truth?”
“Holy shit. JJ, calm down. I’m on my way,” Jillian tells my best friend. She pushes me out of the way and hops off the counter.
“Dude, what the fuck,” I say in shock. “Just hold tight, one of us will be over in a few.” I hang up, then call after Jillian. “Babe, wait. Let me call Ry and see if she can come over here and stay with the girls, and we can go over together.”
“Okay, but make it fast. God only knows what we’re going to walk into over there.”
I tap on my sister’s contact and the phone starts ringing. “Hello?” she greets, a little groggy.
“Ry, sorry to call so late, but can you come over here? It’s an emergency.”
“What’s wrong?” she yells into the phone.
“Well, JJ just called and said some chick dropped a baby off on his doorstep and left. Jillian was going to go over and help him, but I think it’d be best if both of us went. He’s freaking the fuck out.”
“Holy shit,” she breathes. “Yeah, give me ten and I’ll be over.”
“Thanks.” I hang up, and my head falls back as I look up at the ceiling. “I’ve warned him so many times that something like this was going to happen, but he never listens to me.”
“I just can’t believe someone would drop a baby off and walk away like that,” Jill replies, sitting on the bar stool next to me.
“Are you sure you want to go? You can stay home, and I’ll go, or I can take Ry with me,” I offer. It’s getting late and she needs her rest.
“That might not be a bad idea. We’ll see what she says when she gets here. I don’t want to volunteer her for that. She doesn’t know JJ like I do.”
“That’s true.”
A few seconds later, I see the flash of car headlights as Riley pulls into the driveway. I meet her at the door, and she walks in.
“I was thinking while waiting on you to get here. Would you actually be willing to just go with me? That way, Jillian can get off to bed?”
“I was actually thinking the same thing,” she replies.
“Jillian, we’re going to go. I’ll text you with updates,” I tell her as she joins Ry and me in the entryway.
“You sure you don’t mind going?” Jillian asks Riley.
“Not at all. You go get some sleep. We’ll go rescue the man child and the baby,” she jokes.
“Good luck, and I want details,” Jillian replies. I stop and take a moment to kiss her.
“I love you. And I promise we’ll pick up where we were when we were interrupted later.”
My sister slaps my arm. “Gross, I didn’t need to hear that.”
“Then don’t listen to what I’m telling my wife,” I snark at her.
“Then don’t pull me out of bed to help with your idiot of a friend’s emergency,” she snaps back, a
trace of humor in her voice.
“You’ve got me there.” I kiss Jillian one last time before turning to head out the door.
We pull into JJ’s driveway a few minutes later, since he lives in the same gated community we do.
“What took you so long to get here?” he asks as I open my truck door. I can hear a baby, a young one at that, crying from his open door.
“I called Riley to come stay with the girls, but then we decided she would come with me rather than Jillian.”
He leads us into his house. “I have no idea what the fuck to do. Help!”
“First off, calm the fuck down, dude. Babies feed off of your stress,” I tell him. We watch Riley hurry over to the car seat and pull the little baby from it. She looks to be about two, maybe three, months old, if my memory serves me correctly on what size my girls were at that age.
As soon as Riley cradles the baby in her arms, she immediately starts to calm down.
“What’s her name?” Riley asks JJ.
“Um, Evelyn is what she said.”
“Hi, Evie,” my sister coos at the baby and she stops crying.
“Holy shit, you’re the baby whisper,” JJ says in astonishment.
“Not really,” she says. “Did her mother leave you with anything? Bottles? Formula? Diapers? Clothes?”
“She left that bag.” JJ points at a diaper bag sitting on his coffee table. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with a baby?”
We watch as Riley walks over to the bag and rummages through it. She pulls out a bottle and can of formula and walks to the kitchen, which is off the living room. She comes back a few minutes later with a bottle made and the baby sucking hungrily at it.
“Looks like she was hungry,” she tells us as she takes a seat on the loveseat.
“So, do you have any information on the mother?” I ask a few moments later.
“Um, some,” he says, running his hand through his hair. “Her name is Kate. We hooked up last year. She left me her cell number but said that she just couldn’t do this on her own anymore and that it was my turn.”
“That’s pretty fucked up,” I murmur. “I think, tomorrow, you need to call your attorney and get the ball rolling on a paternity test. Maybe try tracking down this Kate chick and finding out as much as you can about the baby.”
The Perfect Pitch (Indianapolis Lightning Book 1) Page 19
